Golden Loong - Delectable Xi'an Cuisine

Amongst the various cuisines in China, Northern Chinese Cuisine is often disregarded and forgotten. With the influx of Cantonese speaking Chinese in the 80s and 90s there was a wealth of traditionally Cantonese restaurants and that became what the Western world familiarized itself with as "Chinese". And now with mainland Chinese appearing in droves in Canada, the wealth of Chinese food is becoming more in display. Craving the noodle and carb filled deliciousness of such, I dragged my fellow colleague to Golden Loong, or Xi'an Famous Foods.

Golden Loong is in a seemingly endless number of strip malls on Pembina south of Bishop Grandin. It itself is located in a quiet corner beside a gas station and is quite easily missed if one is not looking for it specifically. The interior is similarly average and plain in appearance with a few simple booths for smaller groups and larger lazy Susan containing tables for those with larger groups. The menu is decidedly Northern Chinese with an emphasis on home made and hand pulled noodles in a variety of sauces and fires.

Mapo Tofu is a famous dish from Northern China known for its combination of sweet and spicy with the soft tender chew of fresh tofu. Here Golden Loong makes the dish with an incredible amount of spicy Sichuan peppercorns which gives the dish a tongue numbing spice. And while the first taste can sometimes be unbearable, I quickly adjusted to the heat level and appreciated how it elevated the saltiness of the soy sauce and the fattiness of the ground pork. In fact the tofu is more a vehicle to carry the sauce than the other way around. Delicious.

Fish Fillet in Chili Oil is another specialty where white fish fillets are poached in a bath of chili oil and topped with fresh herbs and garnishes. Golden Loong does this dish well and matches the spicy kick in the oil well. The fish fillets are flash cooked and sit on a bed of bean sprouts and onions so that they are surrounded but not soaked in the oil. Unfortunately this means that the bed of vegetables have been sacrificed and become so oily and greasy to the point of being inedible. A hint of crunch from sesame seeds helps to create a textural contrast to the fish.

We could not have left without trying one of their noodle dishes and opted for the Noodle of Stir-Fried Beef with Cumin (Wide Noodle). The thick wide noodles are hand made and are thicker than the traditional fried noodles one would find at other Chinese restaurants. Their thickness allows them to stand up to the thick sauces and strong flavours they are fried with. Here the beef was nicely cooked and had a flavourful cumin aroma. Crunch from the bean sprouts and onions give more textural contrast to the dish. But overall the wide noodles are the star of the dish and help to anchor all the other ingredients.

Golden Loong delivers tasty and incredibly reasonably priced Northern Chinese fare. Despite the dated exteriors, the restaurant is one that should not be missed for anyone from Northern China or wanting to try a different type of Chinese cuisine. Just be warned of the tongue numbing heat found in most of the dishes.